71 Chapter Five: Fly

"Okay girls, let's hit the road!" Izumi proclaimed as she climbed into the van. "To the Hidden Corner!"

The Hidden Corner was the name of the resort that the members of both the Boys and Girls Skiing and Snowboarding clubs practiced and competed at. It was only about ten minutes from the school, making it easy enough to get there without having to worry about time constraints. Or at least, that'd be the case, was it not for the split between the boys and girls.

On paper, both sides of the skiing and snowboarding clubs were supposed to be one club and work together. That meant helping each other practice and offering resources when needed. However, the problem was that for many years, the girls and boys sides had been separated. It had only been recently that Iwanai Municipal High School had tried to mend the divide, but the results were poor, to say the least. Aside from coming together when absolutely necessary, both sides continued to do their own thing while treating the other like an enemy.

Leading the charge to the Hidden Corner was Izumi, who had hoped to make it there before the boys, but mostly likely wouldn't thanks to Haruna's delay. "We probably would've beaten the boys if Endo-san hadn't been so late," one girl remarked. "Yeah, what were you doing? Saying goodbye to your boyfriend?" another girl teased. "Shut up!" Haruna yelled, but then muttered quietly. "Boys are stupid anyways…"

Thinking about boys made her think about Akio. It was hard to believe that the Akio Haruna knew did something so terrible. There was no denying that throughout the school year Akio had seemed to be a little more devious than Haruna had thought he was, but to hear about him stooping to the level of toying with a girl's feelings was just something else entirely. "What a jerk," Haruna thought.

"Yeah, yeah, boys are pretty dumb!" Izumi said with a laugh. "And we'll show 'em how dumb they look today on the slopes!" The president's statement elicited cheers from the three others (not counting Haruna) in the van. Then, leaning in closer to Haruna's ear, Izumi whispered, "Although, I guess you really don't care about boys since you play for the other team." "W-Wha- I-! N-No, not really…" Haruna mumbled after her initial reaction. "Well at least you seem to be getting along well with Kana-chan," Izumi commented, making Haruna blush. "Leave me alone…" "Aw, but I love seeing you this way. Hey, can you say all that stuff again that you told Kana-chan? You know, all the things you looove about her," Izumi cooed. "Y-Y-You heard that?!" Haruna shrieked, feeling the full heat of embarrassment on her face. "Yup, yup!" Izumi nodded. "It's okay, I'm just teasing you. And don't worry, I won't tell a soul about how mushy you can be!" "Ugh…" Haruna groaned.

Being forcibly reminded of what she had just done made her wonder why she had even done it in the first place. "Seriously, what the hell was I even saying��?" Haruna thought. "I bet saying all of that stuff just creeped Kanako out…" There had been a good amount of unease in Kanako's expression when Haruna had said everything she had. Was that what was causing Haruna to feel more distance between them? "If that's the case, then I just got in my own way again…" It was beginning to feel like no matter what Haruna tried, she could never seem to get what she truly wanted without tripping over her own feet in the process.

Letting out a sigh, Haruna looked out the window. The scenery had quickly changed from flat land to trees, and it would only be a few minutes more until the club members arrived at their destination.

When they did, they were greeted with the sight of a large log cabin-like structure. Standing three stories tall, it contained a main lobby and rooms on the second and third floors, along with amenities such as lockers, baths, a pool table and foosball table, and rooms for massages. There were also several spots to relax, where patrons could come in and warm up by the fire while enjoying the drink of their choice. Overall, the resort had a very homely feel to it.

Within the grounds of course were plenty of slopes, complete with practice areas for lessons and lifts for going up. Currently, there were some people making use of those things, being sure to enjoy the first snowfall of the year. "Wow, we sure got lucky didn't we?" Izumi said. "All this snow just in time for our season!" "Where do we go president?" asked the newest girl of the club. "Right this way, right this way!" Izumi said, marching ahead toward the main building. The rest of the club members followed along after her.

When they got inside, they went straight toward the locker room. With the Hidden Corner allowing the club to use their facilities, that meant that they were allowed to keep equipment on site as well. For all of the returning skiers and snowboarders, all of their stuff was already waiting for them. Until the new girl could get her own gear, she'd have to borrow some.

"Okay everyone, get changed and then meet up in the valley!" Izumi said after changing quickly. Dressed in all black snow pants and a coat, along with a pair of orange-yellow eye protectors and a black hat with a pom on top, the only real way to tell it was Izumi was by her blue hair hanging out behind her. "Won't the valley be crowded?" Haruna asked. "Don't worry, don't worry, it'll be fine. Besides, it's the best spot to show newbies where everything is!" The valley was the bottom of most of the hills, as they all formed a sort of bowl shape with each one sitting next to the other.

Once Izumi had given her orders, she left the room. Not wanting to be late, Haruna changed quickly as well, dressing pretty similarly as Izumi, except instead of orange-yellow goggles, Haruna's were a deeper shade of blue. Of course, dressing nearly the same wasn't much of a problem considering it was easy to tell them apart thanks to the height difference.

Once everybody was ready, they all met out in the valley that Izumi had mentioned. Gathering in a small circle, Izumi began to explain everything she needed to to the new girl. While she did, Haruna couldn't help but zone out. After all, it wasn't anything she needed to hear. And anyways, there was something else that had caught her attention.

Looking far to her left, Haruna stared at a hill. There was nothing particularly special about it. Just like all the others, it stood high above her and sat covered in snow and trails. Around the top was the surrounding woods, and during the summer people would sometimes come hiking. However, Haruna had a much different association with summer in relation to that hill.

Because that was were she had first realized her feelings for Kanako.

Haruna had wanted to show Kanako the view, as it was perfect for viewing summer festival fireworks. But, not too long after the fireworks had started, Haruna had found herself unable to deny her heart any longer. In that moment, she had accepted that she had fallen head over heels in love with Kanako. At the time, all she could do was run away, not understanding how something like that had even happened. Now though, standing very near to that place in the opposite season, Haruna didn't find the need to run away from those feelings anymore.

"Looking back, I don't think there was any way I couldn't have fallen for her," she thought. Although, for as happy as that thought made her, Haruna also felt a twinge of sadness from it. She was reminded of her most recent interaction with Kanako and that weird feeling she had gotten that somehow more distance had formed between them. "What am I supposed to do about that…?" Haruna wondered.

"...una-san."

"Haruna-san!" Izumi shouted, gaining the girl's attention. "Huh?" she let out. "Come on, let's go! I already sent the skiers off, so it's just me and you!" Looking around, Haruna saw that it was indeed just her and Izumi remaining. With only two snowboarders in the club currently, that meant the others would be practicing skiing. While the group tried to work together as much as possible, it didn't change the fact that snowboarding and skiing were still two different disciplines. "So, should we run a few slopes to get our legs back, or should we just go for it?" Izumi asked excitedly. "I think it'll be fine if we just go for it," Haruna said. "Okay, okay, but be sure not to fall flat on your face!" Izumi said as she ran off. "I'm sure a few people want you to fall on yours," Haruna thought, remembering the betting pool students had on when Izumi would trip over her own hair.

The destination that Haruna and Izumi were heading to was a bit of a headache for the Hidden Corner. While they certainly approved of and promoted skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and the like (as was their business), there was one particular part of their property they were not a fan of. Sitting in the back corner of the resort grounds was a half-pipe. It had been built by request of the high school after an agreement was made (and a large donation). Even so, it was clear that employees and owners alike were not too keen on having the trick-inducing structure around, as many people asked if they could use it and were met with a resounding no. The only people that were allowed were members of either the Boys or Girls Snowboarding and Skiing clubs or when a competition was taking place. On occasion lessons were allowed, but teachers weren't available for the half-pipe very often.

Standing tall like the hills, the half-pipe was exactly what it sounded like. It was shaped like a pipe cut in half, with the entire thing covered in snow and ice, creating sheer ice walls for riders to go up and do tricks. Surprising, no one from the boys side was on it. "Guess we beat them after all," Izumi said. "Or maybe they already left." Haruna shrugged. "Whatever. At least we get it to ourselves."

As far the high school disciplines went, there were really only three categories to worry about. The first was half-pipe, which was what Haruna and Izumi competed in. The second was slalom, a type of skiing that involved hitting sticks while going down a hill. Lastly was downhill, although this was the least common as there weren't many places available for this to be done properly. Currently, out of the five girls, two were snowboard/half-pipe, one was ski/half-pipe and the other was ski/slalom, with the new girl still undecided.

"I'm kind of surprised it looks as good as it does," Haruna commented about the half-pipe. "Well it's not like there was nothing on it before yesterday," Izumi said, referring to the practice of pumping out fake snow when there wasn't enough natural snow yet. Most likely, the Hidden Corner had done that as well, so when combined with the real snow, they achieved a usable surface. "So, shall we get started?" Izumi said with excitement. Haruna nodded, so the two of them made their way up to the top.

Once they got there, Izumi quickly got into position. Sliding with her board sideways a little ways down, she gave one last thumbs-up to Haruna before giving a small hop to straighten out her board as she begun sliding up the small ramp before dropping into the half-pipe.

Izumi Komatsu was known for two things. One was her ridiculously long blue hair that everyone was sure she'd trip over someday. But the other thing she was known for meant a lot more. As she slid up the wall for her first trick, Haruna watched on, taking in the sight. She didn't always care for Izumi as a person, but as a competitor, she respected her greatly, for Izumi was one of the best young snowboarders in Japan. So good in fact that people were saying she'd easily get a spot on the Olympic team.

Flying into the air, Izumi spun vertically twice while giving a slight grab on the edge of her board before coming back down. Due to her small stature, it was easy for Izumi to get double the height off the wall than most other girls got. Because of that, she was able to do much bigger and better tricks than most of her competitors. Perhaps this was the real reason why Haruna didn't want the president's seat. As an individual, it wouldn't be hard for Haruna to be better at being a president than Izumi was. But, as an athlete… there was no way Haruna could ever surpass Izumi. "She's seriously amazing," Haruna thought as Izumi landed her second trick.

By the time Izumi was finished, Haruna was still standing in place. Seeing that, Izumi cupped her hands over her mouth. "What are you doing Haruna-san?!" she yelled from the bottom of the helf-pipe. "Hurry up and put down a run!" Hearing her president, Haruna finally went into motion, making sure her straps were tight on her boots before scooting into position. When she dropped into the half-pipe, Haruna decided to keep it simple. Part of her reason was because it was her first time doing this sort of practice for the season. The other reason was that it was always hard to follow after Izumi.

Once Haruna finished, Izumi stared at her with a look of dismay. "What was that Haruna-san?!" she whined. "I know you can do way bigger and cooler tricks than that!" "Calm down," Haruna said. "We just started. Give me a minute to actually get used to this again." "So does that mean you're up for another round?" Izumi asked with anticipation. Haruna nodded. "Allllright! Let's do it again!" Izumi shouted as she sped up the hill.

After doing a few more runs, the two girls decided to take a break and meet back up with their other club members. When they did, they discovered that the new girl had chosen ski/slalom as her discipline. "Ugh, ANOTHER skier?" Izumi groaned, but she meant it as a joke (mostly). Then, seeing the state of the other members, Izumi decided to call it a day on practice. The rest had looked exhausted, so it was decided that everyone would go inside to warm up and relax a little bit before heading home.

Once they were all changed, the group gathered inside the lobby area near a blazing fireplace. A few of them had hot chocolate in their hands, including Haruna. Blowing on it, Haruna listened as Izumi began speaking. "Alright, alright, that was a good first practice!" she said happily. "And I hope you all felt good about it too, because you'll need to be ready!" "Huh? Ready for what?" Haruna asked.

"Our first meet is this Tuesday!"

Izumi's proclamation caused Haruna to choke on her hot chocolate. "W-What?!" she sputtered out. "That gives us what, another couple of days of practice before then?!" "Yup, yup!" Izumi said, apparently pleased with this. Seeing the new girl panicking though brought Izumi into a more serious mood. "Don't worry, you won't have to compete," she said to her rookie, who breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait, I thought our first meet wasn't for another week?" another girl asked. "Mmm, well, yeah, there's that one too…" Izumi said while appearing to be deep in thought. "But I thought it might be good if we just dove right into the deep end, so I got a school to agree to play against us!" "How did you even pull that off…?" Haruna muttered.

"Don't look so worried everybody," Izumi said, doing her best to sound presidential. "I promise it'll be fine. Remember, the other school will be just as fresh as we are, so it's not like we'll be at some huge disadvantage. If anything, you could think of this as a pre-test to see how you're doing." "Pre-test?" Haruna repeated. "Yeah, like getting to see what you need to work on before things get really serious," Izumi explained. "So the match we'll be having is official?" a girl asked. Izumi nodded emphatically. "Absol-tively official official!" Around her, a collective sigh was released. "Well this should be good…" Haruna mumbled sarcastically.

*****

When Haruna got home, she faced a lecture at the door from her parents for skipping school the previous day. There was really no good way to explain why she had skipped, so all Haruna could do was take it until they let her go. By the time she got upstairs, the soreness from practice was already starting to set in. "I would say at least it's Friday, but we'll have practice tomorrow too…" Haruna groaned. Izumi had said as much, making it clear they'd be practicing through the weekend and Monday in preparation for their sudden first meet of the year.

Although, while the pain in her muscles was prevalent, it still wasn't the first thing on Haruna's mind. She had finally gotten the chance to talk to Kanako after her confession, but she wasn't really sure how to feel. It was good that Kanako hadn't rejected her outright, but she certainly hadn't said yes either. Thinking about it, Haruna couldn't help but wonder how she kept ending up in situations where she confessed but didn't get an answer.

"Why is this so difficult?" she muttered. It was a question she had asked herself numerous times and it felt even more worth asking now. Before, Haruna had kept trying to find ways to get Kanako to notice her feelings, but that approach hadn't worked. Now, Haruna had confessed. She didn't expect her feelings to change Kanako's immediately, but to get the response that she had had just felt disheartening. "She wants me to still be her friend…" Haruna remembered. She had meant what she had said too. It really did feel cruel. "Friends… is that something I can even still do anymore?"

Haruna understood Kanako's point of view. Having someone you just got close with again suddenly confess would surprise anyone, especially if they had never thought about you romantically before. In Kanako's case, there was no doubt that was true. Hearing Haruna's feelings had caught her so off-guard that she hadn't known how to process it. Suggesting they at least stay friends was the best she could come up with. But even so, that did little to ease Haruna's worries.

The way Kanako had responded, the way her body language had read, it all gave off signs of wanting to keep her distance. Haruna couldn't see it any other way. "Why did I tell her…?" she sighed. The damage had been done, leaving Haruna with no idea what to do next. "How am I supposed to interact with her now?" she wondered. "Is it even still possible for me to try to get Kanako to go out with me?" Naturally, no answers came, so all Haruna could do was lie on her bed and think.

*****

On Monday morning, Haruna got up and proceeded to get ready for school. Her mother appeared to watch her with a wary eye, surely making sure that her daughter actually left for school instead of going elsewhere. "Geez, miss school one time without being sick and suddenly I'm treated like a delinquent in my own house," Haruna thought.

Of course, the main concern on Haruna's mind was Kanako. "Will we see each other?" she wondered. Part of Haruna hoped she wouldn't and was relying on Kanako's tendency to be late to save her from the potential awkwardness. Opening the front door, Haruna took a look around and nearly let out a sigh of relief, but when she reached the side of the road, she stopped. There was Kanako, stopped as well across from her. Their gazes locked, and Haruna felt her heart race. "What now?" she thought.

"G-Good morning," Kanako said shyly. "...Morning…" Haruna said quietly. "Um, d-do you want to walk with me?" Kanako asked. Haruna stared at her before giving a small nod. Pulling up next to each other, the two of them began heading to school. "It's like nothing has changed," Haruna thought, but then out of habit, she went to grab Kanako's hand. Brushing one against the other, instead of the usual connection Haruna felt, she saw Kanako's hand flinch away. "O-Oh, right… sorry…" Haruna said, realizing her mistake. Of course Kanako wouldn't want to hold hands with her. Not after learning about Haruna's feelings.

Meanwhile, in Kanako's mind, she had a different thought. "I wouldn't mind still holding her hand, but… something about it just feels different from before." Holding the hand of someone who had feelings for her felt like it would be wrong. "If I took her hand without returning her feelings, wouldn't that just be shallow?" Kanako thought. And so she didn't, leading Haruna to further believe more distance had formed between them.

*****

When lunch rolled around, Chiyo stared at Haruna with a look of concern. "You okay Haru-chi? You've looked like, totally depressed all day." "Yeah, ya look pretty down girl. Did somethin' happen?" Jasmine said, the other main part of Haruna's friend group. Her full name was Jasmine Hiraoka, half-American, half-Japanese and an absolute knockout of a girl. Her body shape was pretty similar to Chiyo's, but what set her apart was her wavy, pink hair that came down to her shoulders, along with her eyes that rested half-closed and seemingly dripped with a seductive gaze at all times. She had been known for dating a lot of guys in school, but ever since the end of the first term of their second year, she had remained single. Jasmine claimed it was just to let herself experience being on her own again, but Chiyo felt like that wasn't quite true.

Regardless, thanks to her newfound singleness, Jasmine was present for many more conversations than she had been before. However, she was still out of the know when it came to Haruna's confession. "Well…" Haruna said weakly. "I… kinda… confessed to Kanako the other day." "Wow…" Jasmine said with a breath of what sounded like admiration. "Way to go Haru-chi." "Not exactly. She still hasn't given me an answer..." Haruna said. "Hey, it's only been a couple of days. Just give it time Haru-chi," Chiyo said, trying to cheer her up. "Yeah, I wouldn't worry yet," Jasmine added. "Yet?" Haruna repeated. "Well if she just leaves ya hangin', that's never good," Jasmine explained. "It'll be fine Haru-chi!" Chiyo interjected. "Jas-chin doesn't know what she's talking about." "Really? Who has more experience in relationships between the two of us?" Jasmine said. "It's not like I've never been confessed to y'know. I could have a boyfriend if I wanted," Chiyo said with a small huff. "I bet those guys were just confessing to your boobs," Jasmine commented. "That's mean Jas-chin!"

"But what should I do now?" Haruna asked, breaking up the gals' back and forth. "You still want to go out with Kana-chan don't'cha?" Chiyo asked. "Y-Yeah…" Haruna answered shyly. "Then it's simple. Keep going after her," Chiyo said like it was obviously. "How? Now that she knows how I feel, it'll be pretty obvious what I'm trying to do if I ask her on a date or something." "Hmm, true… Then maybe don't make it so romantic. Sometimes the best way is to impress your crush. They see how cool that person can be and like, poof, instant romance!" Chiyo said. "Cool, huh…" Haruna repeated. "How would I even do that? It's not like I'm all that cool of a person." "What about your snowboarding?" Chiyo said. "What about it?" Haruna asked. "You could try inviting Kana-chan to a meet so she could see you compete! I bet she'd be super impressed!"

Haruna was about to deny that, but then she remembered how Kanako had stared at the trophies in her club's room. "...Maybe. We do have a meet tomorrow… Do you really think she'll come if I ask though?" "Absolutely!" Chiyo nodded, 100 percent sure. With no other ideas, Haruna decided to try it.

So, after school, Haruna quickly went to find Kanako. Neither of them had much time as they both had club activities to attend. Luckily, Haruna was able to catch up with Kanako, pulling her off to the side of the hallway. "W-What is it?" Kanako asked, a little surprised. "Um, I… I was wondering if you could, um…" Haruna struggled to say. "I-If you could come to my meet tomorrow… Y'know, if you're not busy or anything… if you are, that's fine, I get it-"

Suddenly Haruna felt Kanako grab her hand. Standing before her was a soft smile on the girl she was in love with. "Of course I'll come. I'm glad you invited me," she said. "Really?" Haruna said. Kanako nodded. "I'll be there." And with that, Kanako released Haruna's hand, said her goodbyes and then left for her club, leaving Haruna positively stunned that Kanako actually agreed so easily.

*****

When Tuesday came, Haruna felt quite nervous, but the majority of those nerves were due to Kanako. After school had let out for the day, Haruna had left with her club to go to the Hidden Corner to prepare for their meet. Meanwhile, Kanako would be coming a little bit later, as the meet wouldn't be starting until around 4 p.m.

While getting ready, Haruna couldn't help but wonder what Kanako was thinking. Did she think Haruna had asked her to come just as a friend, or did she think it was something more. "Probably the first one," Haruna thought reluctantly. She wanted it to be the second option, although a part of her admitted that it took a little pressure off knowing she didn't have to try to woo Kanako while competing at the same time. "It'd be nice if my performance somehow makes an impression on her though…"

"Hey, hey Haruna-san, what'cha looking so glum about? You should be excited, excited!" Izumi said, slapping Haruna on the back several times. "The only thing I'm going to be is annoyed if you don't cut that out," Haruna said. "Sure, sure," Izumi said, then, "But for real, don't look so bummed out. Remember, it may be our first meet, but it's theirs too. Just do your best out there." "Yeah," Haruna said. Following that was an announcement for all snowboarders to report to the half-pipe. "Well, looks like it's time. Let's put on a show Haruna-san," Izumi said. The look she gave was one of perfect confidence. There wasn't even a flicker of doubt that she might lose. It was always right before a meet started that Izumi got that look, and it always gave Haruna a bit of confidence too. "I swear, if she could look that cool all the time, I'd have a completely different opinion of her," Haruna thought as she followed behind her club president.

While walking up the slope, Haruna spotted two familiar faces. "Huh? Chiyo, you came too?" she said, surprised to see the gal along with Kanako. "Mhm! I didn't wanna miss my bestie's first meet of the season!" Chiyo said happily. For once, she was dressed properly for winter, wearing a bright pink coat that looked rather warm. Around her neck was a white scarf and she had on white gloves to match. Haruna was mildly surprised by Chiyo's outfit until she looked down, finding the school uniform skirt rolled up to the mid-thigh as per usual with Chiyo, along with big, white fluffy socks that came halfway up her shins, followed by some stylish looking white boots.

Next to her was Kanako, who was much less flashy. Dressed in a black puffy coat and jeans, a pair of black snow boots, a navy blue scarf and white earmuffs made up the rest of her ensemble. "Chiyo, how are your legs not freezing?" Haruna asked. "T-That's what I said…" Kanako commented. "Hm? I don't feel a thing!" Chiyo said. "That's probably part of the problem…" Haruna sighed. "But hey," Chiyo continued. "Aren't'cha happy that you and Kana-chan almost match?"

Taking a glance at Kanako, Haruna noticed that they did in fact nearly match completely, with both of them wearing plenty of black. Although, adding in Kanako's red nose from the cold made her look rather cute to Haruna. "S-Sure… I guess…" Haruna mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed from matching with her crush. "I-I gotta go," she said quickly, trying to escape. "Good luck Haru-chi!" Chiyo called. "D-Do your best!" Kanako followed up. That cheer brought a smile to Haruna's lips, prompting her to give thumbs-up as she walked away.

Once at the top, Haruna found Izumi getting ready. Overall, there were only six competitors in this event considering Iwanai High was going up against only one other school. On the order list, Haruna saw Izumi was first, followed by herself and then all of the girls from the other school. "Second, huh?" Haruna muttered. She didn't really think anything of it, but a part of her did wish she wasn't going right after Izumi.

Finally, when the announcement came for the first competitor to take her position, Izumi stood up from her seat. Walking up to Haruna, she didn't say a word. All she did was raise her fist up to the level of Haruna's abdomen. Seeing it, Haruna raised her own and tapped Izumi's, causing her to give a smile before walking off. This had become something of a routine for the two of them since last year. With the tradition complete, Izumi was ready to go.

From the tent she was in, Haruna watched as Izumi slid down the hill before dropping into the half-pipe. Right away, Izumi rocketed up the wall and launched into the air, completing three rotations horizontally while keeping her board at a 45 degree angle with a grab. When she landed, the small crowd that had gathered let out a loud round of applause. Following that was yet another big trick, causing even further cheers. Several more times it happened, until finally, Izumi's run came to an end. After a minute or two, the announcement came that her score was near perfect. It put her at the top, which made sense considering no one else had gone yet, but Haruna was sure no one would dethrone her.

Of course, Haruna still planned to aim for it. She had never thought of herself as particularly competitive, but it always seemed like whenever she got into actual competition, she found herself wanting to win. When she heard her name called, Haruna grabbed her board and made her way to the starting spot.

"Here we go," she thought, bringing her goggles down over her eyes. Giving a small hop, Haruna turned so her board would slide in a vertical fashion, then she did just that, going up the small ramp before dropping into the half-pipe. As she slid up the first wall, Haruna prepared to go sky-high. She certainly wouldn't get the same height as Izumi, but the air she got was certainly enough to put down her own big tricks. Twisting round and round, Haruna made sure to keep her eyes focused so she wouldn't get dizzy, then braced for impact as she came down for her landing.

Once the first trick was done, it was right to the second, going up the opposite wall and spinning around again through the air. Landing that trick as well, Haruna did several more before her run was finished. While she had been going, she hadn't really noticed the crowd, but when she was done, Haruna noticed the cheering, especially one gal in particular. "Way to go Haru-chi! You're freaking awesome!" Chiyo yelled from a distance. Haruna gave a wave in her direction. Then, after a minute, her score was announced. It was around 87. Not bad, but certainly not better than Izumi. That didn't bother Haruna much though. In the end, she knew there was no way she'd ever beat the blue-haired wonder.

As the meet went on, the girls from the other school went, and once they were done, everybody went a second round. Izumi posted yet another good score, and while Haruna managed to improve upon her first score, it still left her in second place. By the time it was all over, Iwanai Municipal High School had finished one-two in the half-pipe.

Afterwards, Haruna met up with Chiyo and Kanako. "That was amazing Haru-chi!" Chiyo exclaimed as she glomped onto Haruna. "Thanks," Haruna said with a smile. "Y-You looked really cool out there," Kanako said shyly. "O-Oh, you think so?" Haruna said, feeling a little embarrassed from the praise, but happy to hear she left a good impression on Kanako. Deciding to be a little bold, Haruna gathered her courage. "You know," she began. "we actually have another meet this Saturday, if you want to see me compete again." "Okay," Kanako said pleasantly. "I'll be there." Her response was enough to make Haruna's heart flutter. "Maybe… this'll work," she thought. Haruna knew Kanako most likely wouldn't fall in love with her just from watching her snowboard, but if it was going to keep getting positive results, then it certainly couldn't hurt to keep inviting her. "That's great Haru-chi," Chiyo whispered to Haruna. "Yeah," she agreed.

A little bit later, Haruna found out that the skiers of her club had done well as well, placing first and third. The new girl had only watched, but it seemed after being stuck on the sidelines, she now really wanted to get in on the action. "Alright everybody, great work today!" Izumi said as they circled around in the valley. "Be sure to rest up and sleep well, because we'll be back it again on Thursday!" With one more collective cheer, the group was dismissed.

After getting changed, Haruna met back up with Chiyo and Kanako, who were waiting in the lobby of the main building. On their way back, Chiyo had offered Haruna a ride. As it turned out, Chiyo had been the one to get Kanako to the meet in the first place, with her sister driving. When Chitose arrived, the girls piled into the back.

"My hands are so cold," Kanako said, blowing hot air onto them. "Why didn't you wear gloves?" Haruna asked. "I-I forgot them…" Kanako answered in a disappointed tone. Haruna gave a little laugh. "That's just like you," she commented. "Y-You think so?" Kanako said. Then, suddenly, Haruna took Kanako's hands into her own. "There. My hands are pretty warm compared to yours, don't you think?" "O-Oh… yeah, they are…" Kanako said softly. "Hey, Kanako," Haruna said, causing the girl to look at her. "Is this… okay?" she asked uneasily, referring to her hands clasping Kanako's together. After a moment of hesitation, Kanako gave a small nod. "...i-it's okay. I do feel warmer now." "That's good," Haruna said.

With Haruna in the middle, Chiyo was left on the other side of her, smirking all the while. "You two are adorbs," she whispered to Haruna. "Shut up…" Haruna muttered back, though couldn't deny that she was pretty happy in that moment.

End of Chapter Five.